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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1989)
& LOCAL Friday, November 10,1989 T doctor explains difficulties of coping with AIDS )y Melissa Naumann |T/7e Battalion Staff ■If a group of the world’s brightest dentists had been asked to get to- rether ten years ago and think of the vprst possible disease, they would iot have been clever enough to Hnk of AIDS, a doctor from the [Iniversity of Texas Public Health ■nter in Houston said Thursday. ■Dr. Richard Grimes said all the el- iments of AIDS (Acquired Immune ■ficiency Syndrome) combine to Mpduce a disease that is virtually im- xlssible to deal with. ■In a presentation sponsored by lie American Medical Students As- lolciation, Grimes reviewed the facts Bout AIDS to explain the difficul- les in coping with the disease. Because one way of transmitting AIDS is sexual, it is difficult to study accurately the behavior that spreads it, he said. “Everyone lies about their sex liv es,” Grimes said. Plus, people like sex, so they are AIDS not likely to modify their behavior, he said. This sex element of AIDS, Grimes said, makes it difficult for people to agree on how much information on AIDS should be disseminated. “We will never get a community consensus on what information to give out on AIDS,” he said. AIDS also is spread through blood, making infants susceptible if their mothers are infected. It is the ninth leading cause of death in one- to four-year-olds in the United States, Grimes said, holding up a headline from the August issue of The Nation’s Health that said, “AIDS May Be One of Top Five Kill ers of Children in Four Years.” Grimes said one out of every 64 babies born in New York City in 1987 was the child of a mother who tested HIV-positive, and half ot these children will develop AIDS. The mortality rate of people with AIDS can make some doctors hesi tant to treat patients with the dis ease. VOTIS lets Mac enthusiasts lise library’s computer catalog !y Selina Gonzalez I The Battalion Staff iNOTIS, the Sterling C. Evans Li- irjary computer catalog, soon will be tcessible to Macintosh computer us- rs. Hal Hall, head of the Evans Li- irary’s Learning Resources Depart ment, said. l“We have developed a system. Bled MacNOTIS, that is really Bendly to Macintosh users,” Hall aid. “It is exactly what they expect olsee. I “It deals with all the screen for- iats and the ways of using Macin- osh that they’re familiar with.” |The system, developed by officials )f Evans Library, Texas A&M’s jomputer Services Center and \pple computers, is funded with a ||00,000 grant from the federal De triment of Education, Hall said. Students could have access to :omputer catalogs of other libraries jfiroughout the nation that have NOTIS systems, he said. Field tests are planned for the libraries at Rice University in Houston and Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacog doches. .The current NOTIS system pro vides the researcher with a limited number of options, but the new sys tem would increase these options. Hall said. “The key options to MacNOTIS are down loading to disk and easy printing,” he said. The NOTIS sys tem has a few printers but the Mac NOTIS offers better options on what to print. “We are playing with the idea of even saving the information in spe cific formats such as a bibliography package which would allow you to write a kind of bibliography,” Hall said. MacNOTIS will allow researchers to search Evans Library holdings for listings by author, title, key words. subject areas or other options, he said. An advantage of MacNOTIS is the on-line context sensitive help which provides help information for the researcher, Hall said. The key word searching instructions are user-friendly to Macintoch users. Another advantage of the Mac NOTIS is a map-lodging feature which would inform the researcher of the exact location of a particular book, he said. A map of the exact floor and area will flash indicating the location of the book. The grant will run from October 1989 to September 1990 and at the end to the period a final copy of MacNOTIS will be in the library, he said. “If at all possible, the MacNOTIS will be free of charge except for maybe the cost of a disk,” Hall said. “We are not looking to make money off this.” ■ - V:- 0 ' : •..i v.- J • . . .«.•.* FREE MUG Purchase a Hot Fudge Sundae or any other Ice Cream or Yogurt Sundae and take home a HOT-MUG FREE. BASKIN QjM) ROBBINS ExpressVrive-thru BASKIN ROBBINS 603 Villa Maria Manor East Mall Bryan, Texas 601 University Dr. Northgate College Station, TX ©Baskin-Robbins Inc. Printed in USA Offer good while supplies last. “I mean, how many of you came to medical school to learn how to help people die?” he said. “A friend = I mean, how many of you came to medical school to learn how to help people die? A friend of mine in Houston has treated 1,000 patients with AIDS and 600 of them have died. I don’t know how he stands the grief.” — Dr. Richard Grimes of mine in Houston has treated 1,000 patients with AIDS and 600 of them have died. I don’t know how he stands the grief.” Since AIDS is a viral disease, re searchers are likely to be discour aged, Grimes said. No specific cure has ever been developed for a viral disease and viruses are subject to rapid mutation, he said, making the development of a vaccine nearly im possible. The medical expenses of a person who has AIDS can be as much as $80,000, a Blue Cross-Blue Shield report said — expenses most victims face without medical insurance. Grimes said. As someone with AIDS loses his health, he is likely to lose his job and therefore any medical cover age he might have had. Grimes said AIDS affects the “pa riah” classes, meaning homosexuals and drug users, both of whom often are involved in illegal activities. This is yet another factor that hinders the study of AIDS. “The first thing I have to do is get people to admit they’ve committed a felony,” he said. “Drugs are illegal in all states, and sodomy is illegal in most states.” More men than women have AIDS but the rate of growth of the disease is the same in each category, Grimes said, looking at a graph rep resenting the statistics. “When I look at these curves, I see the same epidemic going on — I just see one starting later than the other,” he said. The same is true when the victims of the disease are categorized by race and risk groups, he said. Out of 254 counties in Texas, AIDS cases have been reported in more than 150, Grimes said. “This is not just a big city prob lem,” he said. Cancer Society out to crush smokers with “Kicking Butts in ’89” theme By Pam Mooman Of The Battalion Staff It’s time for smokers to “leave the packs behind” and start “kicking butts in ’89.” These are the themes for the weeklong Great American Smokeout, starting Monday. The Smo- keout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, encourages smokers to give up cigarettes for 24 hours in hopes they will quit for good. The Great American Smokeout was observed na tionally for the first time in 1978. Last year, almost 37 percent of the nation’s 50 million smokers partici pated in the Smokeout. Bryan-College Station groups are getting involved, too. “The purpose (of the Smokeout) is to increase awareness about the risks of smoking, gather as much attention as possible to the problem and de crease the number of smokers,” Demetria Chester, Texas A&M Cancer Society publicity chair, said. The Brazos County American Cancer Society will send a letter to College Station City Hall to attempt the adoption of a smoke-free city ordinance, Chester said. Bryan and A&M already have such ordinances, she said. Chester said “smoke-free” refers to buildings where people cannot smoke except in designated areas. The A&M Cancer Society will visit elementary and high schools with Filmstrips. “Elementary kids don’t smoke,” Chester said. “For them, it’s mostly prevention.” Nov. 16 is the Great American Smokeout’s Adopt- a-Smoker day. On this day, Chester said, people should help individual smokers not to smoke for 24 hours by giving them gum and goodies as well as moral support, she said. Americans are starting to realize that the pleasure of smoking does not outweigh its risks. From 1976 to 1987, the ratio of adult male smokers (20 years and older) dropped from 42 percent of the population to 33 percent, and women smokers decreased from 32 percent to 28 percent. But the bad news is that on the average, those Americans who do smoke are smoking more heavily. Between 1976 and 1985, the proportion of adult male smokers using 25 or more cigarettes daily in creased from just over 30 percent to 32 percent, while the proportion of women smokers using 25 or more cigarettes daily increased from 19 to 21 per cent. The A&M Cancer Society will man informational tables in the MSG during the week of the Smokeout. Certificates to award to smokers who quit for a day will be sold. T-shirts also will be for sale. FREE SCREEHING Brought to you courtesy of A iJa Claiborne 'STARN P I r. T l RES MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13 tf:00 PM RUDDER AUDITORIUM Sponsored by MSC AGGIE CINEMA TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY Seating is on a first-come, first-admitted basis. Please arrive early to ensure seating. C O S M E T C S The Advantage is yours with a Battalion Classified. Call 845-0569